The wildlife was different in important ways.

The megafauna were gone or going — the last mammoths and mastodons, the horses and camels that had defined the Pleistocene landscape, were extinct or nearly so in most of North America by 10,000 years ago.

But the Edwards Plateau was still rich in wildlife: white-tailed deer, pronghorn antelope, wild turkey, bison in some areas, black bear, mountain lion, gray wolf.

The rivers supported fish, mussels, turtles, and waterfowl.